We see it all the time. "I HATE [insert successful game here]! Its just the same as every other [insert successful genre]". Its gotten insanely popular and increasingly stupid. Lets explore the ignorance shall we?

The Definition of a Media Franchise

look it up. Depending on the source, the wording may be different, but the basic idea should remain the same:

A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media

The characters, settings and Trademarks. By definition, the games in a gaming franchise are REQUIRED to be similar to the others. And its why franchises work. People go in expecting similar characters, settings, and trademarks, and then are sated when they get what they wanted. To complain that a game is the same as another in its franchise is like complaining that one Burger King makes its food exactly the same as another Burger King. Go give that a try and see how many people ask you which special needs group you belong in.

What games are ABOUT

With all the multiplayer hubhub the internet has brought us over the last 8 years or so, it has been easy for people to forget what games are actually about. When the N64 and PS2 were still the top of the food chain, games were bought based on story and gameplay, not how amazing your ability to be a dick online was. Back then, games like Mario and Tekken and WWF-whatever thrived because the gameplay was the same, while the adventure changed. that was not a business model. That was (and still is) how the video game industry worked.

What are you expecting EXACTLY?

Say all the haters do get their way... what do we have? Its too similar? of, now Halo is a third person shooter. The next one will be a puzzle shooter. And the one after will use paint ball guns and shoot covenant grannies.

UPDATE!!!!! for those who like to complain about the lack of change, lets add the differences between each game in the franchise, shall we?

HALO 2 New story. vastly improved graphics. improved armor customization. improved game play. the ability to play as an elite. new weapons. new maps. online multiplayer. Skulls.

...so i ask again, what more do you want? If the late 90's-2003 and even current games like Bioshock and Batman have taught us anything, its that the first thing in each list (a new story) should be enough for anyone to buy a new game. But further along, Halo reach has the most changes out of all of the games in the franchise. Soooo... what more is it you want? What else needs to be done to stop the haters hating?

If you dont like a franchise, it means its time to stop buying things from said franchise (see Burger King reference). Buying and complaining about something because its doing exactly what its designed to do is incredibly ignorant. But then again... this is America.
96 Comments

We see it all the time. "I HATE [insert successful game here]! Its just the same as every other [insert successful genre]". Its gotten insanely popular and increasingly stupid. Lets explore the ignorance shall we?

The Definition of a Media Franchise

look it up. Depending on the source, the wording may be different, but the basic idea should remain the same:

A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media

The characters, settings and Trademarks. By definition, the games in a gaming franchise are REQUIRED to be similar to the others. And its why franchises work. People go in expecting similar characters, settings, and trademarks, and then are sated when they get what they wanted. To complain that a game is the same as another in its franchise is like complaining that one Burger King makes its food exactly the same as another Burger King. Go give that a try and see how many people ask you which special needs group you belong in.

What games are ABOUT

With all the multiplayer hubhub the internet has brought us over the last 8 years or so, it has been easy for people to forget what games are actually about. When the N64 and PS2 were still the top of the food chain, games were bought based on story and gameplay, not how amazing your ability to be a dick online was. Back then, games like Mario and Tekken and WWF-whatever thrived because the gameplay was the same, while the adventure changed. that was not a business model. That was (and still is) how the video game industry worked.

What are you expecting EXACTLY?

Say all the haters do get their way... what do we have? Its too similar? of, now Halo is a third person shooter. The next one will be a puzzle shooter. And the one after will use paint ball guns and shoot covenant grannies.

UPDATE!!!!! for those who like to complain about the lack of change, lets add the differences between each game in the franchise, shall we?

HALO 2 New story. vastly improved graphics. improved armor customization. improved game play. the ability to play as an elite. new weapons. new maps. online multiplayer. Skulls.

...so i ask again, what more do you want? If the late 90's-2003 and even current games like Bioshock and Batman have taught us anything, its that the first thing in each list (a new story) should be enough for anyone to buy a new game. But further along, Halo reach has the most changes out of all of the games in the franchise. Soooo... what more is it you want? What else needs to be done to stop the haters hating?

If you dont like a franchise, it means its time to stop buying things from said franchise (see Burger King reference). Buying and complaining about something because its doing exactly what its designed to do is incredibly ignorant. But then again... this is America.

@Sevan: Maybe people are tired that the franchises are adding nothing new with each game they charge us full price for? It needs to be the same genre but you are acting like if they improve or change the formula in which they use it is bad. Halo for example is getting milked without doing anything to improve the game or innovate the genre and are simply cash-ins.

Also, someone seems upset that people don't like Halo. So I gotta ask -

Yes, but they also don't need to keep making games in a franchise. I like Halo, but you know what? There doesn't need to be any more Halo games. It's been done. A lot.

@Sevan said:

What games are ABOUT

At this point your post essentially stops making any sense at all. You say something about old games having gameplay, and new games also having gameplay? I don't really know, but my advice to you is to just stop letting assholes get on your nerves too much. It happens to me too, but you just gotta realize that there's always gonna be a bunch of dicks that NEED to tell you how much they hate something. Just keep playing the games you wanna play and try to ignore them.

I don't like Halo anymore because the multiplayer and map design has gotten worse not better.

They even removed being able to search for custom games/servers manually. I'm pretty sure Halo 2 had that on the Xbox so you could easily find people to play all sorts of custom games with. Now it's all matchmaking focused. Ew.

Actually, Battlefield is NO-WHERE near as critically acclaimed and loved and popular Halo and COD are, thank godWhen the big boys (CoD, KZ, Halo and Gears) are having their fanboys massacre each other, Battlefield is no-where to be seen. I love that, and it saddens me that Battlefield 3 is the last nail in the coffin of this franchise's non-mainstreamness

Also, who cares if someone doesn't like a franchise. I like Halo (the first more than the sequels admittedly) and I don't care if people talk smack about it; they can hate it as much as they want but the games are still critically acclaimed and sell like hotcakes.

some franchises are overrated, but most of them became franchises through having solid mechanics (or borrowing those from innovative games.) But it doesn't matter if people don't like franchises because it come downs to opinion (I personally don't like Call of Duty but that doesn't mean I think everyone who plays it is an idiot)

I like Halo, and CoD, and Battlefield, and games..... just games in general. Saying shit to someone else because they like a different game then you do is bull shit. Play games and enjoy them because that's what they are for.

It's a bit like that, except if there were 40 Burger Kings on every street, and they kept closing every other eatery to replace them with more Burger Kings, and nobody bothered running 5 Star Restaurants anymore because all anybody wanted to do was eat fucking Whoppers all day.

Do people hating franchises you like stop you from enjoying the franchise? No. So move along and stop wasting your time. Spend more time enjoying the franchises you like instead of uselessly defending them on an internet forum. Very few people will change their opinion just because you say they should. If, however, you're looking for a discussion about this, I think that went out the window as soon as you called everyone who doesn't agree (franchise haters) stupid.

@Sevan: I agree that saying you hate or are tired of what ever game for no reason is crap, and makes you look like a fool. I do think it is sad that gamers will buy the same rehashed crap year after year. Just because you can pump out the same crap as a developer and watch it sell is not good for gamers like myself who expect their franchises to evolve. And yes, some times I do feel a little butt hurt when a huge game hasn't changed an engine in 5 years or so, and the engine was heavily modified, but dated to begin with. Not because of that game in particular, but because reproducing the same crap is cheap, and very tempting for other developers to do. You don't have to change everything about a game for it's sequel. Take the leap from the first Uncharted to Uncharted 2. Or from Assassins Creed 1 to the second one. Or from Bad Company to Bad Company 2. They kept the core gameplay, but addressed the problems and made the game better all around.

Then there is game fatigue. I love Assassins Creed, and I will try the new one, but I have trepidations. They wildly improved each game, but I think maybe after this they should give it a rest. That or do a new game with some new mechanics in a new setting with a new feel. There are other games out there to try and fall into their game worlds. Some times, I think, fans of certain games need to move on. I was in that group in the early 90's with SNES Street Fighter 2. I bought that, then SF turbo, then finally Super SF. I needed a break. Now Super Street Fighter 4 is out, and I could not be happier with it. I will not buy Arcade Edition for 4 new character though. I require innovation in the games I love as well, and I think other gamers should too.

@Sevan: Maybe people are tired that the franchises are adding nothing new with each game they charge us full price for? It needs to be the same genre but you are acting like if they improve or change the formula in which they use it is bad. Halo for example is getting milked without doing anything to improve the game or innovate the genre and are simply cash-ins.

Also, someone seems upset that people don't like Halo. So I gotta ask -

Halo changed pretty significantly with every iteration, even ODST. So it's a little silly to say it was milked. They made genuinely good games with new and exciting mechanics and features that kept each installment enjoyable and fresh, if familiar. CoD would be a much better example.

@Ygg: Not trying to start an argument, but I distinctly remember that you could not search for custom games in any shape or form. There was matchmaking for ranked/unranked but nothing else. Custom games were always started by a couple dudes on your team or the other team saying, "Hey, you guys wanna join us for some custom games?" in the carnage report and people just getting together on their own. Then everyone would invite their friends and suddenly you'd have a 16 player game of madness. I worked because the community worked and was amazing. Now I still have enough friends to get together and do stuff like that on Reach, but its nowhere near as crazy (fun) as it used to be.

I agree with some of what he says. Evolution is always a slow process, one can't expect every iteration of a franchise to improve by leaps and bounds; not every game can be a game changer. It always seems to me that gamers are among the most whiniest, implacable group of people. Except you fine gentleman (and ladies if applicable) in this thread. ;)

@Ygg: Not trying to start an argument, but I distinctly remember that you could not search for custom games in any shape or form. There was matchmaking for ranked/unranked but nothing else. Custom games were always started by a couple dudes on your team or the other team saying, "Hey, you guys wanna join us for some custom games?" in the carnage report and people just getting together on their own. Then everyone would invite their friends and suddenly you'd have a 16 player game of madness. I worked because the community worked and was amazing. Now I still have enough friends to get together and do stuff like that on Reach, but its nowhere near as crazy (fun) as it used to be.

Oh that's weird, I swear you used to be able to, not sure what game I was thinking of then.

I think people just hate success. People stopped liking Green Day once it became mainstream. People thought Call of Duty was pretty rad until MW 2 was being advertised on bosses and average joe gamer decided to play it

The sad thing is that people often use similar arguments to the OP's troll: ie. if a game is popular then it's good, so hating a popular game is merely for the purpose of elitism. This makes sense in a conformist society perhaps.

I bought Shadows of the Damned just to give Grasshopper Manufacture money--because they do new and crazy things. And I try to avoid paying Activision money--even if it involves doing slightly illegal things. They should not be rewarded for running on a brand name and millions upon millions of advertising dollars.

lol for incorrectness. I bitched rather heavily about several things that Bungie has done. As well as Infinity Ward, and i have actually stopped playing a majority of the DC comics and WWE wrestling games (the only franchises other than Halo that it ever had any deep affection towards).I bitch about things i like but its for actual specific reasons, and not just because its a franchise. I dont follow anything blindly.

i posted because people are seriously bitching because Master Chief is in every game. Their seriously bitching because things are similar. Not broken or improper, just because they are the same as they were in the last game... when it was awesome. Why is it epic in one game and not in another? I look at Pokemon and Mario and CoD and Halo and Assassins Creed and every other franchise, and all i see is the same situation. every game has the same characters and gameplay with little tweeks. So why is Halo and CoD the bad guy and Mario is still selling billions of copies?

@Twitchey said:

@Sevan: So people aren't allowed to not like a franchise? So I have to tolerate Halo even though I do not like it? I didn't know the gaming community was communist.

lol its called not playing it. There is a difference between not liking something and hating on it. Not liking means getting rid of your copy and moving on. Hating means injecting your "Halo sucks" blurbs into every Halo related comment box you can fins (see the Halo forums for examples. there are kagillions)